Chapter 125: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 125: Whereabouts (2)
"The execution is about to take place on the platform. Leave quickly!" At this moment, as noon approached, the bailiffs hurried over to urge the woman to leave.
The woman sobbed, clinging tightly to Fat boss and refusing to leave. Finally, the bailiffs, impatient, directly pulled her away.
"Xing'er, go back. Brother doesn't want you to see Brother's gruesome death. It's not good-looking, and it will frighten you." Fat boss forced a smile on his face and gently persuaded the woman to leave. As the bailiffs were about to forcibly take her away, he couldn't help but ask, "If there's another life, Xing'er, would you be willing to be with Brother?"
The woman suddenly turned her head, tears streaming down her face, disregarding the gazes of the onlookers as she loudly exclaimed, "I'm willing! I'm willing! Brother, if there's another life, you must find me early!"
After speaking, unable to bear seeing the man being executed, she sobbed, covering her mouth, pushed through the crowd, and rushed out without looking back.
Watching the woman's figure, with the executioner's announcement of "It's noon, time for the execution," Fat boss's happy smile froze instantly on his face.
And in that moment when the green-clad woman turned her head, Mo Yan finally remembered where that sense of familiarity came from. She hastily greeted Liu Tinglan and, ignoring her calls, quickly pushed through the crowd, chasing after the woman's departure.
The woman's pace was quick, and the two of them were separated by some distance. Mo Yan found it somewhat difficult to chase after her from behind. With many people coming and going on the street, she saw that the woman was about to disappear into the crowd. Thinking quickly, she shouted, "Li Xiu!"
The woman seemed not to hear, so Mo Yan shouted a few more times. On the fourth call, she clearly saw the woman pause her steps and glance back.
Mo Yan felt a sense of joy in her heart, hastening her pace to catch up, blocking the woman in a narrow alley.
The woman, with swollen eyes still teary, looked at Mo Yan with vigilance. "What do you want?"
Mo Yan patted her chest, breathing heavily, and asked, "May I ask if the young lady's name is Li Xiu?"
A flash of panic crossed the woman's eyes. She turned away coldly and said, "You've got the wrong person. I'm not Li Xiu!" With that, she turned to leave.
Mo Yan clearly saw the panic in her eyes. How could she believe her? But if she truly was Li Xiu— Grandfather Li's daughter, why wouldn't she admit it? If not, why this reaction? Could it be a coincidence?
Looking at the woman's facial features, which were seventy percent similar to Li Yan's, Mo Yan shook her head. Grandfather Li no had said that Li Xiu looked very much like Li Yan. Now, with the right age and appearance, there couldn't be so many coincidences coming together.
But the woman refused to admit it. Mo Yan didn't have evidence for the moment, and if she continued to press, it might scare the person away.
Thinking of this, Mo Yan smiled apologetically and said, "Please forgive me, I mistook you for someone else when I saw your back, who is a familiar acquaintance of mine. I'm truly sorry!"
With that, she stepped back, indicating that the woman could leave.
The woman glanced suspiciously at Mo Yan, only seeing an impeccable smile on her face, and believed it to be true. She said "It's okay" and hurried away.
While the woman wasn't paying attention, Mo Yan quietly followed behind, not daring to get too close, maintaining a certain distance.
This area was full of winding alleys, with mostly adobe houses, low and dilapidated. Some walls were cracked, and murky water flowed everywhere, emitting an unpleasant smell.
After following several narrow alleys, Mo Yan noticed that the surrounding houses were much better. Although still old, most were made of blue bricks and tiles. She saw the woman in front of a large house and knocked on the door.
Soon, the door opened, revealing a short and very unattractive-looking man inside. Not knowing what offensive words the man said, the woman suddenly raised her hand and slapped him hard, then turned and walked in without looking back.
The man held his face, looked in the direction of the woman, spat on the ground, cursed something, and then slammed the door shut with a bang.
Seeing this scene, Mo Yan had a bad feeling in her heart. After pondering for a moment, she stopped a passing auntie and pointed to the house, asking, "Auntie, do you know who lives in that big house? It's really huge!"
The auntie, looking in the direction she pointed, suddenly changed her expression, kindly advised, "Miss, that's not a good place to go. It's not where young ladies like you should go. Hurry home, and don't come here again, understand?"
With that, she urged Mo Yan to leave quickly.
Mo Yan felt even more uneasy upon hearing this. She thanked the auntie and left with a heavy heart.
At the vegetable market, Liu Tinglan anxiously waited. When she saw Mo Yan return, she hurriedly approached and slapped her on the back, "Yanyan, where did you go? I've been waiting for you for so long, and I was so worried when you didn't come back."
Mo Yan was touched in her heart and felt guilty. "Sorry, Sister Liu. I saw someone who looked like an old friend of mine just now, so I went after her. I ran far before coming back."
Liu Tinglan was only worried about her friend's safety and wasn't really angry. Upon hearing Mo Yan's explanation, she asked with concern, "Did you catch up? Was it really your old friend?"
This matter couldn't be explained clearly to her, so Mo Yan lied and glossed over it.
Liu Tinglan didn't ask further and just advised her to be careful next time, so as not to encounter bad people again. Mo Yan readily agreed.
After leaving the vegetable market by carriage, Liu Tinglan suggested going to the East Market to shop, but Mo Yan had something on her mind and couldn't muster the interest, so she declined.
Seeing her not looking well, Liu Tinglan didn't insist and, after sending her home, declined Mo Yan's offer of dinner and returned to her own home by carriage.
Mo Yan locked herself in her room, lost in thought for a long time. She couldn't decide whether to tell Grandpa Li and the others about this matter. If the woman was really Li Xiu, and now she had fallen into a dark brothel, would Grandpa Li be devastated if he found out?
But if she didn't say anything, would she just stand by and watch Grandpa Li, at his age, running around looking for his daughter? But if it wasn't her, wouldn't it be a false alarm for Grandpa Li? Although she was eighty percent sure that the woman was Li Xiu!
Comments
Post a Comment